


Pareidolia

by Ayoz



Series: Pareidolia [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:35:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29619999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayoz/pseuds/Ayoz
Summary: Two explorers go on their way across the planet to produce maps of their seemingly uninhabited world.
Series: Pareidolia [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2176272
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1 - Pilot

"Theo."

The wind rustled through the dark limbs of the trees, the determinate dusked sun peering through the boards of a poor shelter pitched across the cliff of a dim hill.

"Theo. Wake up, the stars are coming out!"

The boy wrestled in his newfound wakefulness. He peered at his friend who beamed at him, her face glowing with the dark dusk sun.

"Lorie, what are you talking about?" Theodore grumbled into his burlap pillow.  
"The stars aren't supposed to come out for another 8 hours. Let me go back to sleep."

Lorelei laughed.  
"Theo, you've been asleep for 16 hours. Now come on, it's been years since we saw the stars rise!"

Theodore rolled over onto his back.

"So are you coming with me?" 

"Yeah, yeah, give me a minute, Lorie."

The room stood silent for just long enough for Lorelei to forget why she was there.  
Eventually, Theodore cleared his throat. 

"So are you trying to wait for me to get up so you can watch me dress or do you want to leave sometime soon?"

Lorelei seemed to go through every stage of grief in just a moment, the lantern light illuminating her dark skin, which had all the colors of the very late sunset outside of the shelter.

"Eat a dick, smartass. I'll let you get dressed, just get done quick." she huffed, crawling out of the shelter carefully as to no not disturb the small area.

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Lorelei sat outside of their separate shelters in the common area they had set up weeks ago. Her shelter was a fairly well-constructed tent of boards and fabric; one could tell this was not her first shelter. The roof had a pipe that escaped the cobbled together boards, soot marks streaking the exhaust. 

Theodore's shelter was not so well made. The boards were poorly put together, and the lantern light which he used to get ready for the morning's adventure speckled numerous small holes through the structure. The structure resembled a lean-to more than a put-together shelter. The linen sheet that covered the entrance showed an outline of a poor living space; visible was Theodore's bed and a makeshift desk which he rarely used. 

Theodore emerged from his lean-to, and his height makes one wonder how he ever fit into it. He was dressed in dark clothing which seemed useful for long exploration. Against the lantern-light, in the shadow of the dusk, his bright skin was very obviously dimmed by the thin layer of dirt gained from the uncovered floor of his shelter. His messy brown bed-head fit in perfectly with his outfit, his shirt half tucked in, and one pant leg rolled up further than another. 

"Are you ready to go, Lorie? At this speed, we're gonna be late." Theodore grinned. 

"You're one to talk - you took thirty minutes to get ready and you still look like that."

"Time is of no permanence, Lorelei." He mocked. 

The two spiraled down the side of the hill as the sound of their boots echoed across the range. They walked for what felt like hours across what was obviously a path that had been worn many times, but not by the duo. 

At the top of the tallest hill, there was a bench that hadn't been repaired in many, many years which saw a new use in an unfamiliar world. The slow dusk sun lit the sitting area like a dying fire, and the stars in the sky were beginning to become visible.

They stomped up the hill, and the excitement in the air around Lorelei was palpable. It had been forever since either of them saw the stars rise. 

Firmly planted on the bench, Lorelei quickly took a sketchbook from her pack. Scrambling to find a pen, she opened the sketchbook to unfold a very large insert which folded out into a partially complete map of the skies. Each detail was excruciatingly drawn.

"Lorie, you gotta give up on that. We've already got a land map of this area; we don't need a sky map. The stars are just lights. Nothing else."

"Theo, that may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. "

The stars grew brighter and the thin details of the cosmos emerged. The dimmest stars, the dimmest planets, the dimmest reaches of the universe. Lorelei sat, constantly moving her head up to the sky and down to her paper. She filled one unmapped corner of the sheet. 

"Wait, Theo, look at this!"

Theodore drew himself out of his novel and reluctantly looked over to Lorelei.

"This star area... it looks kinda like a face-"  
\  
"This is why you called me over?" Theodore interrupted.

"Give me a second!" She snapped.

"This corner i've been mapping looks kind of like you, see?"

"My nose isnt that big. And anyway, stars are just lights. Balls of gas miles away." Theodore rose from his seat, closed his book, and turned away from Lorelei.  
"I'm headed back to basecamp - I'm getting hungry."

"Ok, Theodore. Leave some of the food for me."

Theodore's footsteps echoed down the path behind Lorelei, eventually becoming so faint that the only noises left were of her breathing and the scratch of pen on paper.


	2. Pareidolia Ch 2

Theodore shuffled up the mountain, the Cold Season just beginning to set in. Once he crossed into the makeshift base of operations which he and Lorelei had set up. The base had become nearly nostalgic for him. He could envision what both shelters looked like, how the common area between them could cast firelight into their shelters, and where the paths had been worn by weeks of treading. Between the Cold Season setting in and the base becoming home, a sick sense had set in his stomach. They needed to get moving back to Home Base.

The heat of the campfire felt great on Theodore's skin against the slight chill in the air. Fishing out the last of the rations, which was a pretty sad pack of sausages, Theodore realized fully that they would have to leave this shelter. The area was mapped and the rations were low. Even if they did stay, they would likely freeze to death during the cold season. They had to get moving soon if they wanted to get back to Home Base.

Theodore speared a set of sausages with the included steel sticks and tented them over the fire.

What would Lorelei say about moving out of the hills? She loved the hills, and now that the sun had set she could finally see the stars. But she had never felt the bite of the Cold Season, and she had never burnt in the Warm Season. She was a new explorer that needed to learn to move on. 

The fire licked the sausages, burning their edges and sending flavorful smoke over the hills like exhaust sputtering out of a broken down car.

Where was Lorelei anyway? She will have to be getting at least a little chilly by now, and the corner of the map for her to fill out would not take her long. Her love for the stars was bizarre at minimum; all seasoned explorers new that the stars weren't of any actual use, and that all they were were the omens of the cold. She would need to learn one way or another, and Theodore feared that it could mean the worst for her.

The sausages began to burn completely and snapped Theodore out of his thought. He dismantled the sausages from their picks and packaged them for later use. While he had been hungry before, his worry would not let any food set. The fire began to shrink, the excess boards not used in the shelters having been used for fuel. While Theodore began to lapse back into thought, he heard the distinct patters of Lorelei making her way up the hill.

Theodore stood. 

"Lorie, what took you so long? The sausages are getting cold and the fire is almost out. We have to get moving soon."

"Oh, why don't you ever calm down? You're lucky I came back at all. If you gave me the opportunity, I'd be up there forever. Unfortunately, us humans get hungry."

Lorelei dug into the sausages as soon as she could get her hands on to them and didn't seem to mind at all their burnt nature.

"I 'don't calm down' cause I'm trying to keep you from getting killed. Speaking of which, we have to get moving on back to Home Base."

"Already? The sun fully set only a few hours ago. We only set up here a few weeks ago."

"Yes, already. Now get your stuff together. I'm gonna find my map and circle us back toward Home Base. We stayed here because you wanted to see the stars, and I let you. Now lets get going."

"Yes sir, your majesty." Lorelei mocked.

\-------------

Hours passed and both explorers had retreated to their shelters to get their equipment put into their packs. As the sun has set, and the clouds rolled in overhead, both were taking full advantage of the lantern light to work by. Eventually, Theodore emerged from his shelter to find Lorelei ready to go. 

"Hey there, Mr. Prepared." She laughed.

He sighed. "I couldn't find my map. Hopefully I remember the way back, or you and I will freeze before we know it."

"That just means that we'll be adventuring for longer, huh? That sucks." She said sarcastically.

"Were you listening? I said we would freeze."

"Yeah sure, let's get going then. I wouldn't want dear Theodore to get cold."

Theodore huffed and the two made their way down the mountain, lit only by the lanterns they carried. The trail ahead of them slowly morphed away from hills to what could be described as a concrete forest. The dirt path beneath them gave way to concrete panels adjacent to long interconnected streams of solid asphalt. The concrete towers were adorned with various awnings, banners, and windows. The base of the constructions were deft with greenery and vines climbed the spaces between the bricks. The two had entered a city, and by the dim light of the rising moon they could tell it was not the one near Home Base.

"Well, Lorelei, you got your wish. We're gonna be out here for a while."


	3. Chapter 3

Faintly warm light trickled through the broken windows of the small store the two found themselves in. A small campfire roared in the center, and the shelves had been pushed to the opposite walls. Next to the campfire sat Lorelei and Theodore gutting their packs to sort their materials.

"Well, Lorie, those sausages were the last of our rations. We won't be able to make it back to Home Base, so we're officially sitting through the Cold Season with no food, no water, and no way to keep ourselves warm beside a campfire. Are you still happy to be 'exploring'?"

"Yes, I am, Theo." Lorelei said defiantly, a look of satisfaction waving on her face.

Theodore sighed, defeated. "I'm going to head out and look for more food in the buildings nearby. You should do the same; we are gonna need all we can get before we hibernate."

"Yes-sir, Theodore-sir!" Lorelei mocked.

Lorelei and Theodore walked out the rickety door of the abandoned building and went opposite ways down the street. Lorelei looked behind herself periodically to see the opposing lantern light grow dimmer and dimmer until the light faded into the night. It had begun to get very dark; the sun had fully set and what light trickled over the horizon was no brighter than the moonlight. However, something about the near-total darkness put Lorelei off. Sure, she had seen the darkness, then the ice, then the snow, from her bedroom window at Home Base. But she had never been in the Cold Season herself, and especially not alone. Every kid had heard tales of Explorers that didn't return before the seasons set in, and whose bodies were recovered either burnt dry or frozen to a snap. Though she wanted to stay on her adventure, and she had gotten her wish, the creeping dread of returning to Home Base as a pile of bones was ever-present. The moonlight itself was dim, fading in and out like the tides with the clouds rolling across the sky like waves. The shadows cast by the moon seemed to leer at Lorelei; both warning her of what was to come and beckoning her like sirens to a whirlpool. This wasn't Lorelei's first "solo-mission", and she was more than prepared to fight any wild animal also desperate for last-minute pickings before the Cold Season fully set in.

She shook those thoughts off of her shoulders, alone with the rustle of her jacket and pack.

Alone.

Eventually, Lorelei came across what seemed to be another market. Explorers were trained to recognize the signs of early human advertisements. She turned into the door, lightly bracing herself for what she may find.

"Anyone there?" Lorelei said with a sizable amount of false confidence.

The only answers were the faint echoes of her voice in the darkness. Lorelei had never heard such deafening silence. It was as if the world was mute, or that Lorelei had gone deaf. Her heartbeat reassured her, however, that she was still present.

She could make it through, she just had to stay confident.

Her footsteps, lighter than before as to not disturb the antique site, found their way through the maze of aisles and counters within. Through each corner of the labyrinth was another disappointing empty shelf. As she began to give up hope, she found a shelf in the far back that seemed to have not been disturbed by either humans nor any animal smart enough to open a can. She rolled the stacks of aluminum cans into her pack, their covers illuminated by the lantern to find a variety of soups. A wave of success rolled across her mind, and she took the opportunity to reward herself with a break and a can of soup.

Lorelei sat on the cold, musty tiles of the store. She carefully reached into her pack for a can of lentil soup, which they would often make back home. It had only been about a month since they left, but she still missed the warmth of her bed and the familiar babble of the civilians. Lorelei wondered whether this sad place she occupied was ever home to a girl like her; did anyone before her sit in this place, listening to the babble of the city folk, and enjoy their time amongst the world? 

'It is of no use to you to wonder about the early humans.' Theo would say. 'They're gone.'

Lorelei decided that having an imaginary conversation meant she should get going.

As she made her way out, head held high, she noticed something that sat in the window; a large record player with a stack of records. They had one of these back at Home Base; the elders would use them to raise morale for the citizens. Lorelei carefully took a disc, blew off the dirt and dust that had formed on top, and placed it gently onto the player. She took one of the many batteries to be used "only for emergencies" that had been sent with them. She deemed this an emergency, (after all, odds were she would freeze over the next six months.). As the record wound up, a soft melody played from the ancient speakers in the player.

Yesterday  
All my troubles seemed so far away  
Now it looks as though they're here to stay  
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly  
I'm not half the man I used to be  
There's a shadow hanging over me  
Oh, yesterday came suddenly

Lorelei stopped the record player and wiped a tear from her cheek. She stuffed the record player with its records into her pack.


	4. Ch 4

Theodore raised his lantern to inspect the building that the duo would soon call home. A deeply faded and sun-bleached sign adorned the left side of the door, but it could not be read due to its age and prominent position in the sun. Theodore scoffed and straightened his jacket to better cover himself. Some Explorers would call him over-prepared, but Theodore reasoned that if he were under-prepared, he wouldn't be making it home alive. Walking down the sidewalk, he traced his fingers on the worn brick and concrete walls that lined the street. The monoliths have been here for hundreds of years, yet he and his people still lived at Home Base. What was keeping them out of the city?

He shook the thought from his mind; Lorelei must have been getting to him. Home Base was the best spot for the rest of the humans, and Explorers marked new locations for bases and contacted other camps of individuals. However, he wondered if maybe Lorelei had a point. No one could deny how the sun looked at it raised above the horizon and dipped down below. And the stars, even though they were just balls of gas, were undeniably beautiful. 

But that was a bad train of thought to lead oneself down. Before you know it, you could end up like Lorelei. Engrossed in her drawings of the world (which served no purpose for mapmaking), astonished by the sight of stars, and appalled by the skitters of rats and chirps of birds. She asked Theodore to become an Explorer so she could hear about the outside world, and then decided it wasn't enough for her to just hear about it. When they moved out a month ago, she was not well trained; she could build a shelter and make a map, but her studies were not at the forefront of her mind. Despite them being the same age, and not related in any way, Theodore couldn't help but see her as a little sister who often got into trouble. He would console her when she would get hurt, and he would teach her how to survive while the sun was on the horizon.

Eventually, Theodore found what he was looking for. He passed numerous shops that may have contained rations, but that is not what he was after. Food could be found easily and did not weigh much; so they could gather it in the future. What Theodore was looking for were supplies.

The Elders had always poorly provided for the Explorers, so they were used to foraging for supplies. The shop that Theodore came across listed itself as a "Handyman's Store", evidenced by the severely faded but still legible label on the door. Theodore pushed open the door and heard a snarl come from inside. He reached into his pocket for his emergency handgun, which was only to be used in the utmost emergencies. Theodore had never had to use it, but he had sufficient training to do so. He had brawled with animals, however; more than adept with his fists and a knife.

Theodore inched open the door, ready to pull his gun when he realized that it was missing. Did he leave it at the previous camp? The Elders would kill him for that, on top of them returning six months late. It was likely that they would revoke his license to explore. 

But that was of no consequence now; the beast in the darkness had definitely noticed him and he could hear its footsteps inch towards him. He pulled the knife he kept in his breast-pocket and swung open the door. The beast recoiled at the sight of the moonlight; and while its silver fur was illuminated it could be made out to be a relatively large wolf. Snapping out of the dazed state, the wolf threw himself towards Theodore. Theodore was fully inside the building now, and his lantern was still outside, sitting on the ground. He was going to have to fight close-quarters, in the dark.

As the wolf lunged towards him, Theodore blocked his head with his arms. The beast drew its jaws into Theodore's wrist, forcing him to swing his arm aside. The wolf snarled once again at Theodore, begging him to back off but Theodore knew he had to do something before this wolf hunted him down. Theodore struck at the mane of the wolf, catching it off-guard and gaining a significant advantage. The wolf reared, but Theodore was unrelenting. Theodore had become, temporarily, more feral than the wolf itself. 

He struck the wolf down with a final blow.

Theodore was exhausted. He sat on the ground by the entrance, lantern light flooding into the room, illuminating the spoils of Theodore's victory. Theodore felt his wrist and instantly recoiled at the sharp sting of an open wound. There were bandages back at base, but the problem would be getting there while carrying supplies and his pack. However, Theodore was not a quitter. Theodore stumbled to his feet and looked at the mass of fur laying on the ground beneath him. His ears caught the noise of small squeaks in the back of the shop, and he noticed with dread what he had done. There were pups in this shop; he had slain the mother wolf. He thought he would be proud or happy with his first real solo victory against a beast, but he felt defeat even still. What would Lorelei think if she knew he had slain the wolf?

Theodore scanned the store for materials and slid all of the relevant things he could carry. He took lengths of tarp, planks, and carpets. He figured he would need the carpet for warmth. On the way out of the door, he turned to look at the wolf one more time. Sighing, he resigned to leave it there; though the meat and fur would be wonderful for the season, he couldn't let Lorelei know what he had done.


	5. Ch 5

The cold wind blew threw the empty windows of the small shop that the two would be inhabiting for the time being. The fire in the center was newly lit, and smoke filtered through the vents in the ceiling and through the door. Lorelei's shadow looked giant on the wall behind her; she was sat facing the fire, her nose buried in her sketchbook. The wind whistled and the fire cracked, and for a moment it almost felt calming. The warmth of the fire absorbed well in to her dark skin, and she was nearly about to fall asleep. The darkness outside was omnipresent, and she knew it would be for a very long time. No one back at Home Base knew why the days and nights were so long, but they knew that it wasn't always the case. Tales were told of 24 hour days of the past, where the sun rose and set often. Back in the day, there were four seasons; the flowers bloomed for months on end; and the sun embraced with warmness. But something had changed after many years; the days were months long as were the nights. The sunrise and sunset were the only times that the Explorers could leave, for the temperature of the outside world was too harmful to humans. The Warm Season scorched the Earth, and the Cold Season froze it.

It began to lightly drizzle outside. Lorelei took this as a good sign; after all, if the rain was liquid, it wasn't freezing yet. She began to worry about Theodore. He would be freezing by the time he made it back.

If he did at all.

She pushed the thought out of her mind. Theodore was a seasoned Explorer, compared to her at least. He could handle a little bit of rain.

But what if he couldn't? He could slip and fall and die, bleeding out on the concrete alone. Or what if he was attacked by a bear? The Elders said that 10% of non-natural deaths in the commune were caused by bears.

Theodore could probably fight a bear, she reasoned. I mean, with his confidence what couldn't he do. He was a big guy, practically born to be an Explorer. It was the job every little kid wanted but never got. She was lucky to get the position, and even then it was only after Theodore hassled the people in charge. She knew this would be her last trip, even if she lived. The Elders had a schedule, and being late was a guaranteed opportunity for an Explorer to get fired.

Through the pounding rain, she could make out the distinct sound of his footsteps. Immediately, she knew something was off. His footsteps were uneven and his breathing was audible. She tensed up behind the fire, her hair on end.

The false door swung open.

"Hey, Lorie. I'm back from -"

Lorelei jumped to her feet and hugged Theodore.

"Dude, I was so worried about you! Why were you gone for so long? Are you okay?"

"Lorelei, calm down. I just went a bit farther than I planned is all." Theodore rubbed his wrist, hoping to conceal the dried blood. 

"You don't sound great. Sit down and unpack your stuff, we've been through enough today."

Theodore rested by the fire and took off his rain-soaked jacket, shaking his head like a dog to get the rain out of his hair. The cans of soup were prominently displayed in the back, with the record player and its records resting in a corner. Theodore poured his spoils of war out of his pack onto the ground, which left him sitting next to a near mountain of materials. 

"Where did you find all that? That is insane." Lorelei remarked.

"There was a Handyman's store down the street. I thought we would need this." Theodore said, lying on his back. "Feel free to make yourself a bed with the carpet. We're gonna need to cover the windows with the tarp, too - that rain will be snow soon."

"I'll set it up. I don't know what's wrong, but you need rest."

Lorelei walked up to the window and pitched the tarp across the windows, completely covering the front of the abandoned shop. The temperature inside seemed to rise almost instantly as the wind grew quieter and the rain pattered on the tarp.

Retreating to her designated spot, she cut a length of carpet to use as bedding. She took a Mylar blanket that had been supplied to them and laid on her side. Across from her, Theodore was already asleep, and his wrist was visible. He had deep wounds across his arm, as if he had been slashed at. Lorelei froze but didn't know what to do. She resigned to let Theodore sleep and to clean the wound in the morning.


	6. Ch 6

Theodore woke up to the embers of the fire and an ever-present darkness outside. Before last "night", he hadn't slept for upwards of 24 hours; his body was still aching. In the dimness of the coals, he could make out the outline of his heavily damaged arm and panicked before he remembered what had happened. He looked across from himself at his partner Lorelei, who was asleep on her side, facing towards the flames. The first thing an Explorer learns in training is how to tell time intuitively, so Theodore estimated he had been asleep for about 9 hours. Immediately, he rose to his feet. He wrapped bandages around his wounds and took his lighter from his pack and re-tended the fire. What awoke him was probably the nipping of the cold on his skin, (admittedly his fault for not setting up bedding the night before), so immediately he laid a swath of carpet out and unrolled his Mylar blanket on top of it. The warmth and light of the fire cast tall shadows on the walls, which drove Theodore's attention towards a door in the back of the shop. Carefully, as to not wake up Lorelei, he walked to the door and attempted to jostle open the handle. 

Locked.

Hundreds of years, and this handle was one of the last remaining barriers of humanity.

Theodore was tempted for force open the door, but he decided against it as he didn't want to wake Lorelei too early. It wasn't as if there was much to be done while they were awake, anyway. Beyond the rogue exploration for materials, the two were relatively stuck within the shop's walls.

\---------------------

A gust of wind blew hard, and diverted the falling rain into the tarp covering the empty windows. While that alone wasn't enough to wake Lorelei, the loud crash of thunder not far away definitely was. Lorelei sat up with a jolt, the fire now blazing after having been reignited by Theodore. Theodore himself was sitting with his back to the fire, reading an old novel in the dim light. Lorelei sighed, not having envisioned this as the life of an Explorer. The rain will keep them in for as long as it is going, so they were stuck.

Alone.

"Theodore?"

"Oh, Lorie, you woke up. What's going on?"

"What... are we going to do?" Lorelei said weakly.

"What do you mean? We'll stay in here until the sun begins to rise in a few months."

"You know what I mean, idiot. What are we going to do in here, locked up in a small room? Are we just going to sit here and rot?"

"I mean, that is the plan. Minus the rotting; we have food and we can collect snow once it begins to fall."

"You are insufferable. How are you going to pass the time in here?"

"I've got a few novels. Hey, now is a great opportunity for you to practice mapmaking."

"What does it matter if we are never going to be Explorers again?"

"That's a fair point. Well, Lorie, you'll find something to do. Draw in your little sketchbook, or use the record player. By the way, I noticed you tapped into our reservation of batteries." Theodore clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "What would the Elders say?"

"The Elders can get bent."

"That sounds more like the Lorelei I knew in school. You were starting to scare me with all the adventure talk, you've never wanted to help the commune."

"Of course not. I want to leave. And I did." Lorelei touched her head to her knees. "And now we're going to freeze in the middle of nowhere with no way back."

"Lorie, it'll be alright." Theodore stood and turned towards Lorelei. "Are you hungry? I noticed that you found lentil soup - your favorite."

"Yeah, go ahead and warm it up."

Theodore retreated to the dim corner of the shop where the cans were housed. He propped it up by the fire and rotated it ever so often. Lorelei had gone back to sitting on her swatch of carpet, taking out her sketchbook. As she flipped through the pages of star diagrams and drawings of the sun and moon, she realized that maybe this situation wasn't so bad. In all honesty, she wouldn't pick anyone but Theodore to be stuck with over the Cold Season. He was smart and strong, and always seemed to know what to do. Snapping out of her focus, she noticed that Theodore began to spin one of the records, using another precious battery. The rain outside began to lessen up. While the sun wouldn't come out for many months, it seemed as if it had brightened outside.


	7. ch 7

Lorelei opened her eyes and saw only darkness. Not the darkness you see when you close your eyes, nor the darkness when you sit alone in a dim room. The kind of darkness when the sun never rose, never existed. The kind of darkness where light would get swallowed up in its aura. And the cold. The cold was intensely bitter, quickly nipping at her body heat. She looked down at her hands but couldn't see them. She could feel the water in each of her individual skin cells freeze and burst, her hands flaring with intense pain then going numb. The freezing sensation crept up her arms and up her legs, her limbs becoming icicles with no feeling. Her blood had frozen through and her heart slowed. The ice reached her throat, and she opened her mouth to scream for help. She was alone. No noise came out as her eyes froze over until no longer could she see, smell, feel, hear, or taste. She could only feel the dying heat of her body, and her soul trapped in the pits of her being.

Lorelei awoke with a sudden start. She shot straight up and pulled her hands to her face. They were cold, but not frozen. Her blanket had been thrown to the side, and the dim coals illuminated the room. Theodore was still sound asleep, snoring quietly.

Lorelei walked to the tarp to look at the outside world.

Ice had frozen to the ground, and the snow had begun to fall. Not much had collected upon the ground, but enough to coat the world in a slight layer of powder. She flinched at the sight of the snow, remembering her nightmare. The ice called to her, beckoning her to walk upon it. The moonlight glinted off the snow into her eyes as if to shine like there was something to be found beyond.

"Goodbye, Theo. I'll be right back." She whispered, making her way out into the snow with only a light jacket and the blanket wrapped around herself.

\------

The light ice and snow crunched under her feet. Her body seem to know exactly where to take her, but she had no idea where she was going. Turning right at an intersection, walking down streets she couldn't even see. The chills pinched at her cheeks and her breath fogged in her face. Her steps were slow and deliberate. Her shoes were lined with snow and her ankles were frigid. 

And all at once, she stopped.

To her right was a large building lined with shelves and distraught items strewn across the floor.

She lit her lantern and stepped inside, knowing this was her destination. Around the room were numerous objects which would be usually marked as garbage. They were arranged in such a way that the room became a nest of some sort. In the center lay a single throne; cobbled together from boxes, furniture, and lead piping. Every object imaginable seemed to be a part of the grand throne. On the throne laid a pile of bones, and a human skull lay cracked lying on the floor.

Lorelei recoiled at the sight, putting her arms across her face. The warmth of her jacket combined with her determination to find why she was here calmed her down, and she took another gaze at the royal seat amongst the nest. Laid across the arms, lying above the bones, was an old stringed instrument. Of its original 6 strings, only 3 remained. The others had been plucked by animals or worn by weather. A thin paper crown lay with the bones.

Lorelei knew what she must do. She stepped toward the throne, dusted the bones off of the seat, and laid the crown on top of her frizzy brown hair. Lantern still lit, she was warm enough to sit for some time. The snow was coming down slow but steadily outside, and some had blown in to the building. She picked up the guitar which was much too large for her, and began to play. The strings were greatly out of tune, and she had never played before. The song that resulted was warped, dismal, and gloomy. The sun would not rise for a long time. The song was harmonious to her, however. She played this song for the poor man who had died here, among the rats and crows.


	8. ch 8

Theodore woke up and stretched his arms above his head. The coals were no longer hot, so he relit the fire with their stock of firewood and tinder. As he looked around, he noticed that Lorelei was nowhere to be seen. Stranger, the door was open. 

"Lorie? Are you here?"

No response came from the room, save for a dull echo and the crackling of the fire.

Theodore began to worry. Was this another one of her "adventures"? She was probably out in the cold, looking at the stars, freezing to death. He was going to have to go after her, yet again. Why couldn't she just stay in the store? They had everything they would need for months, and they had entertainment. They had paper, pen, and a record player. She always seemed to want more than they had. Over the past few days, she had looked paranoid. He had been increasingly worried for her, and her mannerisms had not helped soothe his worry.

Hesitantly, Theodore made his way to Lorelei's half of the room. He knelt down next to her resting area and took her sketchbook in hand. The cover was doodled on to the point where it was nearly falling apart. Illustrations of people, buildings, and stars lined the edges of the leather. Theodore carefully opened the cover to the first page.

Laid out neatly in the center was a message from Lorelei.

"Theo, stop reading this. It isn't for you! :("

Theodore turned the page against her wishes

"Why don't you listen?"

Theodore winced at her prediction. On the early pages were simply diagrams of land, the stars, and of shapes. About every ten or so pages were notes on her thoughts at the time; anywhere from "hungry" to "lost". As the book went on, the pictures were drawn more erratically; stray lines were splotched on to pages. The most striking of this bunch was a page where Lorelei was positioned at the end of a dark tunnel. Below it she had written a single word.

ASTRAY.

Theodore turned the page.

A detailed pack of gigantic ice crystals adorned the edges of the page. Rising to the center was the largest crystal, which housed a female figure that Theodore assumed was Lorelei. She was completely frozen within. Above the drawing, it was titled.

DESTINY

Theodore dropped the sketchbook and grabbed his lantern. He burst out of the tarp on to the street, looking for any sign of Lorelei.

\-----------------

"Lorie? Lorelei!!" Theodore yelled in to the darkness, his deep voice echoing off of the abandoned buildings. Faintly in the snow, he spotted her footprints. The snow had been falling steadily, but the outlines were just visible. Theodore had resorted to tracking her like an animal. The snow bit at his skin and froze into his hair. In his rush, he had left his jacket and blanket. His fingers trembled and his exposed ankles felt like they were being cut with razors by the snow. His bandages on his arm had fallen off, and only healing wounds remained. 

The trail ended. She must have stopped running here; the impact of her footsteps lessened and let the snow take over. Theodore stopped and brushed the snow out of his eyes.

The silence around him was deafening. In the crunch of the snow, no sound echoed off of the ground. Theodore marched on, driven by the beating of his heart in his ears.

Theodore's teeth were chattering and his heart beating fast. Just above the drum beat in his soul, he heard an accompanying melody. A soothing stream of disharmonic notes, strumming off down the street.

"Lorelei."

Theodore ran towards the noise with all the might in his legs. They had begun to tire from the walk, combined with the cold. He skidded to a halt in front of the venue where Lorie sat. A broken guitar was in her hands, and frost formed on the edges of her extremities.

"Lorelei? What the hell are you doing out here?!"

"Theodore? What are you doing he-"

Lorelei's response was interrupted by Theodore grasping her and carrying her like a lifeless body.

"Lorelei, you can't keep running away. You could die out here, and it isn't even as bad as it will get."

Lorelei stared at the ground beneath her, still getting carried. Theodore's determination growled in his ears and pumped warm blood in to his legs. He stomped through the snow, tracing his way back to what they called home.

"What are you running from?"

"What?" Lorelei said, startled by the sudden vocalization.

"Lorie, what are you running from?"

The wind howled

"Are you running from me?"

Lorelei burst in to laughter. She was still her same old self, even when on the edge of death.

"No, idiot. You're the only thing keeping me in that hellhole of a home."

"Then why would you leave?"

"I had to."

Theodore decided not to waste energy on prying further. He stepped into their building, the fire still blazing. Theodore lay Lorelei on to her mat.

"I'm gonna have to be like your guardian now." Theodore scoffed.

Lorelei looked around at the unfamiliar home she began to know well. She noticed her sketchbook lay open to the page titled Destiny.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave recommendations/criticism! This is the first piece of writing I've ever """published""".


End file.
